Shitbag – 5*****

Melbourne’s Hayley Edwards strides into the centre of the stage and immediately undercuts any expectation of polite Fringe theatre. She explains she’s just had great sex, but needs to apologise in advance — because she’s about to stink the place … Read More

Imprints – 4****

The Palimpsest Project have engineered something quietly extraordinary with Imprints — a work that sidesteps cliché and lands somewhere between live cinema, theatre, and a fever-dream scrapbook. It takes on the underlit corners of fragile memory and art of piecing … Read More

Mr Chonkers – 4.5****

Mr. Chonkers sets the scene—robed, gloomy, and foreboding—then begins greeting the audience with a series of gloriously ridiculous salutations.

An audience member is tasked with looking after all of us if the performance isn’t good. Then Chonkers bursts the … Read More

Ordinary Decent Criminal – 5*****

Mark Thomas delivers a blistering, unmissable performance in Ordinary Decent Criminal, embodying not just Frankie – the ex-addict, ex-student and one-time political firebrand now serving 3.5 years for drug dealing – but every inmate who crosses his path.

The main part of … Read More

Flick   4.5****

Flick packs Summerhall’s Red Lecture Theatre for an hour of sharply observed, darkly funny and quietly unsettling solo theatre. Dressed in hospital scrubs, palliative care nurse Madelaine Nunn commands the stage, revealing that she works in an end-of-life cancer hospice, … Read More

Chat Sh*t, Get Hit by Martha Pailing – 2.5**

Martha Pailing’s solo show Chat Sht, Get Hit* is an exploration of female rage—its origins, suppression, and consequences. Performed in the intimate setting of Summerhall’s Former Women’s Locker Room, the venue itself adds weight to the theme, with its confined, … Read More

Enjoy Your Meal   3***

Enjoy Your Meal at Summerhall has all of the ingredients for a truly standout Fringe experience – immersive staging, food and drink served live and a performer willing to take creative risks. Unfortunately, while the concept is fresh, the … Read More

This Is Not About Me – Hannah Caplan and Douglas Clarke-Wood for WoodForge 4****

This Is Not About Me  is a sharp, tender and often very funny two-hander that thrives on the crackling chemistry between Amaia Naima Aguinaga (Grace) and Francis Nunnery (Elis). The pair play long-time friends – and sometime lovers – whose … Read More

Niusia – 4*

Beth Paterson’s warm, grounded presence draws you in from the moment she steps on to the stage. In Niusia, she offers a deeply personal and beautifully crafted homage to her grandmother — a Holocaust survivor, a fiercely intelligent woman, and, in … Read More

The Cadaver Palaver – 5*****

Catching a show at 10.15am might not sound like the most appealing thing to do at the Fringe, but Cadaver Palaver at Summerhall is just the perfect wake up call anyone could possibly need in August. On arrival, the stage is refreshingly … Read More